Sand bags are commonly filled using shovels or hand implements so that they can be piled for flood control. Due to the hard labor required and, in some instances, the short time available in emergency conditions, it is desirable to have a more automated means of filling sandbags.
Some prior art semi-automated systems have employed a sand hopper having an outlet chute that allows a bag to be positioned to receive sand from the outlet chute. In such systems, a manual gate or valve is typically utilized to permit sand or aggregate to flow through the outlet chute and into the bag. Such systems also require closing the gate or valve once the bag is filled and commonly result in spillage of sand due to overfilling. Further, such prior systems have limited throughput as a filled bag must be removed from the chute in order to reposition another empty bag relative to the chute. During the removal and repositioning of the bags, such systems sit idle.
A number of fully automated sag bag filling devices have also been proposed. However, such fully automated sand bag filling devices are mechanically complex and typically expensive. Accordingly, adoption of such fully automated devices has been limited.